


Curiosity Killed the Cat

by blu_eyed_demon



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Coming Out, Don’t copy to another site, Fluff, M/M, Outing, Secret Relationship, Sex Mishap, sex related injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 02:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17613926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blu_eyed_demon/pseuds/blu_eyed_demon
Summary: Bored with no case load to speak of, Amanda ends up getting far too curious about an injury that Sonny's come into work late with. Curiosity about a broken wrist spirals into jumping to the worst possible conclusions and finally some revelations about Carisi's personal life that he would have really rather kept hidden.





	Curiosity Killed the Cat

 

There was a superstition held in most police stations that Amanda Rollins believed in absolutely: never, ever use the 'q' word when talking about a shift. Along with calm or peaceful or any similar synonym, it was universally known that if the 'q' word was uttered by a foolish cop, the fates would laugh and rain down hell in response.  
  
So Amanda had settled on boring, her shift was boring. When the one exciting moment was having to change into a fresh bra and blouse because someone's crying baby had had one of her boobs leaking in response, you really knew it was going to be a mind-numbing day.  
  
Reports had been written up, no new cases had crossed her desk and so she was simply chasing up a loose end of a phone number from a victim's purse. The perp had been arrested but it didn't hurt to follow up a phone number so that no lawyer could try the 'what if this phone number is of the real killer' B.S. on the jury.  
   
The shift was so quiet- _damnit-_ that she heard actual footsteps to announce Carisi's late arrival to work.  
  
Cursing herself for even mentally using the 'q' word, Amanda turned from her screen to give her partner crap for his late arrival.  
  
Liv had warned her Carisi had been held up but not gone into detail, one look at him told her what had been the hold up though.

He wasn't wearing a suit jacket which was pretty unusual at the start of his shift and had one of his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow. This only highlighted the fact that from knuckles to mid forearm on his left, Sonny had a cast.  
  
"Carisi? What the hell happened?" Amanda jumped up from her desk, making a beeline for Sony's and perching on it as he took a seat.  
  
"What this? Just an bit of an incident last night, then I was in the ER from, like, 2 to 7 then getting home and ready for work was, uh, interesting so...I'm a bit late. Well, very late.” Carisi told her his voice overly casual and not making eye contact as he ran his free hand through his hair.  
  
The move unwittingly gave Rollins a moment's view of his right wrist which had a nasty looking bruise on it. Around it.  
  
She'd seen bruising like that before on vics. Ones who had been fighting against their restraints.  
  
The obviously sleep deprived Carisi wasn't expected her to suddenly grab his hand and so gave relatively little protest aside from a confused "Hey!"  
  
It was easy enough for Rollins to unbutton his shirt cuff and push back the sleeve (how had Carisi gotten himself dressed for work though? That had to have been a challenge).  
  
"How did this happen Carisi?" she pushed, her serious eyes locked with his panicked ones.

The panic response coupled with the bruises had the SVU detective on high alert. She knew Carisi was seeing a girl he was incredibly secretive about and now this.  
  
"Me and Tommy were putting together the new crib and it went wrong." He said it firmly, reminding Rollins of someone repeating an alibi they had been fed word for word.

"A crib, really? DIY at two in the morning?" She didn't have to say she thought his excuse was bull, it was written all over her face.  
  
"Rollins, please, just back off yeah?" His irritableness just raised more flags, after all this guy was Sonny by name, sunny by nature as she had heard one of his sister's say with a loving eye-roll.  
  
"Alright, alright." She raised her hands in appeasement "But we _will_ talk about this."  
  
She had to get to the bottom of this. Carisi was more than her partner, he had quickly become her best friend and biggest support when her family had let her down after Jessie's birth. If he was in trouble, she had to help him. It wasn't even a question.  
  
For the moment though, she dropped it and returned to her desk.  
  
She continued her search through phone records as she heard Olivia come out of her office.  
  
"Oh good Carisi, you're here. How's the wrist feeling?"

Watching out of the corner of her eye, Amanda saw Carisi raise his arm in the cast for their boss to see from her office door.  
  
Olivia started to cross the bull pen to Sonny's desk not looking overly surprised. "Do we need to have a desk work only conversation?"   
  
"Nah Lieu, I'm not a leftie. Can still write, pull my gun and whatever else. Might need a bit of help making a collar but that's what I got Rollins for right? I can do my job, just watch me and see. _Then_ sideline me if you're not happy." He wasn't ordering Olivia (which was good because woe betide the man who tried to do that with Olivia Benson as their boss) it was more like imploring her.  
  
The next exchange between them was too quiet for Rollins to hear though she did notice the tips of Carisi's ears were pretty red, a sure sign of embarrassment or lying. Or both. She couldn't see his face to confirm though.  
  
"Well, no more DIY for a while, Ok?" Olivia suddenly spoke loud and, Amanda realised, was heading straight for her.  
  
"Rollins, got something for you two. Young boy down at Mercy hospital found beaten in the street with possible signs of sexual assault."  
  
And, just like that, the boring shift was done for.

It was chaos for the next few hours as they picked up the new case that spiraled into three victims all who had been attacked in the past ten hours and the perp was getting worse. The latest kid was lucky to have survived and now the whole squad was on it with Liv taking lead. With young teen boys and media attention already gathering it was easy to see why.

Even so, they were sent rocketing around the city chasing up leads and questioning witnesses for hours and so it wasn't until mid-afternoon as they both sat in a squad car waiting for Liv call that she managed to speak to Sonny about anything that wasn't case related.  
  
She was in the drivers seat since they had both agreed that a one handed cop was probably not the public safety commercial that the upper brass would want.  
  
Not that his left hand was completely out of action, Carisi had slightly restricted use of his fingers but could grip some things. Still, Amanda had had to button his coat for him, an indignity he had managed to survive with only one frustrated huff.

As they sat waiting, they took the chance to take a few minutes to eat and drink for the first time since the shift had began.

“So,” Amanda started, handing over Sonny's sandwich after opening the packaging for him. “We gonna talk about this?”

“There's nothing to talk about, it was just a dumb accident.” Carisi insisted, eyes fixed ahead at the street outside rather than looking to Amanda.

“Bull.” She shook her head, no way was she gonna let him by with that. For better or worse she had to know. “Carisi. Sonny. You've come in with broken bones, bruises and a relationship you won't tell anyone about or let your friends near. What kind of cop would I be if I didn't push for the truth? What kind of friend?”

Carisi's head snapped round immediately, gaping at Amanda in utter shock. “What? You're kidding me, you can't seriously think that-you don't mean, Rollins! That's ridiculous! They wouldn't hurt me, ok? It was an accident.”

“Accident? You're seriously trying that one on me still?” Amanda could feel herself getting annoyed but, knowing that wasn't going to help at all, she took a breath and tried again. “Sonny, it's me. I'm not judging you, I promise. I'm just worried.”

Carisi let out a heavy sigh, staring down at his cheese and pickle sandwich like it might have the answers for him.

“Look, Amanda, I appreciate you caring about me but this isn't what you think. It's actually pretty embarrassing and I just don't want...ah, crap. Fine. Whatever.”

Sonny seemed to come to some sort of conclusion in the midst of his struggle and turned in the passenger seat to face her.

“It's not bad like you think, honest. It's just really embarrassing so I need you to swear it never leaves this car.” Sonny was looking at her so seriously and, well, Amanda was scared for him so if it was the only way to get Carisi to open up to her, so be it. It wasn't like there was a client confidentiality between them.

“Ok, sure. You got it.”

Carisi narrowed his eyes suspiciously though.“Not an interrogation promise Rollins, a real one.”

Ok, she should have seen that one coming. Hands held up, she nodded “Fine, fine, I promise you. Unless it's something really dangerous or illegal, it stays in here.”

Apparently that was good enough, Sonny was no longer squinting at her. A few moments passed as they started on their sandwiches again. If they wanted lunch, they had to eat and talk while things were peaceful for a moment.

“It really was an accident but not a doing DIY accident,” Carisi started and Amanda just about resisted rolling her eyes because _duh_.

“It was, uh, a sex thing. We were experimenting, I guess, and then an accident happened...”

Nearly chocking on her BLT, Amanda spluttered “This was a sex game gone wrong?”

Sonny was flushed and embarrassed again, plaster cast hand coming up the nervously play with his hair. “Uh...yea...”

“How bad at sex are you that you broke your wrist?” She didn't mean to say it, it just sort of came out as she laughed both from the admission and her own relief.

Carisi sent her a dirty look though it was ruined by the fact that he was still flushed and his lips were starting to turn up. Even he couldn't not laugh at the ridiculousness.

“Ah, whatever. If you must know last night was the best sex I ever had...right up til when the bed broke on us.”

“You broke the bed? How good was this sex? How old was your bed?” She was still laughing as her earlier realisation of dual wrist injuries collided with the broken bed revelation “Oh my God, Carisi, you were _tied_ to the bed when it broke!?”

Sonny's face had only just been starting to vaguely go back to a normal colour but now he was flushing deep red again. “Yeah. Yep, that would be, uh, what happened.”

“Oh, where did my sweet church going boy go? They grow up so fast these days.” Amanda sighed, snorting as Carisi flicked a napkin at her in response. “Oh, real effective. So, when do I get to meet the adventurous woman who's corrupting you?”

Sonny was silent for an extended moment and then “Not...not a woman.”

Amanda's smile fell as her stomach dropped. “Not a...I swear to God Carisi, if you're about to say she's that young, I'll arrest you myself.”

Carisi, thankfully, looked just as appalled as she felt. “What? Ew, no, Rollins! Quit jumping to conclusions, you'll sprain something. Geez. I meant I'm dating a guy, ok? A legal aged, non-abusive guy.”

Ok, so admittedly that should have been her first thought to the not a woman comment but Carisi? Amanda had always thought she was pretty good with the whole gaydar thing and she'd never even suspected him.

“You're gay?”

“No, bisexual. It's the first time I've dated a guy since, like, college though and so far I'm really happy. And, yeah, like I said before the bed broke and before that I was pretty much having the time of my life so can we stop the 20 questions now? Please?” The tinge of something like frustration in his voice had Amanda feeling guilty.

As she finished up her sandwich, she offered an apology that was accepted quickly.

“It's ok I'm just, ya know, embarrassed and in pain and embarrassed and not slept and embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed because you were having great, kinky sex? Sounds like that should be an achievement to me.” She nudged him gently, shooting her partner a smile. Trying to get things back to normal a bit, which Carisi seemed to appreciate judging by the way his smile returned fairly quickly after that.

“Yeah, well, not like we do stuff like that a lot. It was my first time actually, in cuffs obviously not with having sex before you say anything.”

“Now you're just denying me fun,” Rollins made a point of pouting a little until Sonny chuckled a little. Carisi was generally a pretty happy go lucky guy, seeing him twisting hadn't been fun but she'd needed to be sure he was safe. Now, they could both relax again.

For a few minutes they ate their food in relative silence, Rollins couldn't hold back for long though. She had too many questions. Sonny hadn't trusted her enough to tell her he liked men, he'd never even technically confirmed he was dating someone until today. That lack of trust hurt a little, and it had also led her on. Ok, so she'd just had Jessie and her love life was a train-wreck but she'd thought she'd been getting vibes and interest off of Carisi. Apparently she could not have been more wrong.

“So, how long have you and Mr 'Best-Sex-You've-Ever-Had' been together?” She asked as she crumpled the wrapper her lunch had come in.

“Few months.” Carisi shook his head a little, “We really gonna do this, huh? The boy talk thing?”

“You have three sisters, no way it's a new thing for you."

“Well, yeah but in a cop car? Never exactly planned on being out at work to anyone. Ever.” The way Sonny said it made a pang of guilt hit Amanda but how could she have known? She'd just been worried about her friend.

“Hey, it's ok. My lips are sealed. No one will hear it first from me, ok? Promise.” She reached out, taking the sandwich wrapper from Sonny's good hand before taking a hold of said hand. “And I really am sorry, I only pushed so hard because I care but it's your business not mine. Unless you wanna share?”

Lucky for her, Sonny wasn't one to hold a grudge though (not with Amanda, anyway) and he was already smiling. “Well, I guess it would be nice to talk to someone that isn't my sister about this stuff. So, go on, what other questions are you bursting to ask?”

Amanda squeezed Carisi's hand once more before releasing it. “Last thing before I drop it, no one needs you to, like, out yourself to the whole department but if you ever just want to tell the team I'm pretty sure you're safe. I mean, Finn's son is married to a man and Finn loves them both plenty.” She'd heard talk of things being rougher in the past but it was now that mattered.

“I'm guessing Liv knows though, she was teasing you earlier right?” Sonny nodded and she filed the information for later before adding as an afterthought “And Barba, I mean I know he loves to give you crap and all but, well, now I think about it if someone asked me who on the team isn't straight I'd probably have said him before you but I'm not sure why.”

Carisi laughed, shaking his head a little before telling her “Yeah, Liv knows him actually. We all bumped into each other this one time so it's not like it was planned for her to know and you not to. Unfortunately that means she knows all about last night too so, yeah. Didn't even have a chance there.”

Ah yeah, Amanda did not envy him that. Telling you boss about about the sex injury you got with her friend? Yikes.

“So, handcuffs.”

“Ugh, this isn't going to get old for you anytime soon, huh?”

“Nope.” Rollins confirmed before admitting “Never really appealed to me with the fact that we cuff people everyday, you know?”

“Same but, uh, not only have I had a run of only dating women since college, it's all been pretty vanilla I guess. He's older and has some less than vanilla experience, we were talking and he had cuffs and I figured why not?” Carisi's ears were still red from the embarrassing topic but he wasn't cringing anymore at least. “Turns out, this is why not.” He motioned with the hand that was in the cast.

Her next question, one that was maybe late but handcuff sex misadventures were distracting at the best of times, was his name. Amanda was about to ask it though when Carisi's phone pinged.

“Work or Mr Lover making it up to you?” She asked as Sonny somewhat awkwardly fished his phone out from his opposite coat pocket with his good hand. In watching the act, mostly in case he dropped it, she saw the caller ID was simply an emoji heart. Because Sonny Carisi was that adorable.

She looked away to give him some privacy though noticed he struggled to both hold the phone and use the touch screen.

Amanda's phone rang moments later and this time it was Liv so it looked like lunch was over.

By the time she'd finished the call, Sonny was still struggling with his phone.

“Need help there?”

“Nope,” He pocketed the phone, smiling as Amanda said.

“That's right, his sex game hopitalized you so you keep him waiting.” As she spoke, she started the car up. “So, Liv said Barba needs us right now for trial prep for that male nurse case and she'll call if another attack happens or if she and Fin need all hands on deck.”

“Lucky us.”

The fun boy-talk vibe had died a quick death and the car was silent for the short drive they took to the DA's office.

Before heading inside though, Rollins was treated to the sight of Carisi cussing out his coat and throwing it into the car angrily. The cast was too thick for the sleeve and he'd been struggling with it since they'd left the station but, seemingly, he was at the end of his tether with it.

It did mean that Rollins was on door duty and pressing elevator buttons because Carisi was using his one good hand to carry his phone and all the other junk he couldn't fit in his pants pockets.

“We're gonna have to figure out some one armed shortcuts for you aren't we?” She smirked after he finally gave in as they headed up to Barba's floor and handed his phone and such over to Amanda and let her help him clip his badge to his waistcoat.

“I hate this already, no way am I gonna not go insane with 'six to twelve' weeks of this.” He grumbled, glaring at the cast accusingly.

Six to twelve weeks? “Damn, hope the sex was worth it.”

“Oh, it was.”

Looking up at him, Amanda was pretty sure that she'd never seen Sonny grin quite like that. He still blushed when she mentioned his sex life, which was kind of adorable, but that grin was something else. Almost sinful.

Who knew Carisi had it in him?

“So you boys at least got to finish, huh? Good for you.” She teased, grinning widely herself. Sonny's blush reddened but, unlike earlier, he didn't grow shy this time.

“Well, the bed was already broken and I kinda didn't even notice the pain until after the, ya know, glow and all wore off. So it was _really_ good, yeah.”

Damn, she was almost jealous of that. Sex that good wasn't often found, she could testify to that plenty times over. Good for Sonny.

The elevator arrived on the floor and after stepping off, Carisi paused and turned to her. “I'll meet you in there, I gotta,” He motioned behind him in the vague direction of the bathrooms.

Right, that was something else he was gonna struggle with.

“Sure, sure, take your time. I can bug Barba for hours.” Of course, grilling Sonny about his mystery man was more fun but no way as she going to offer to help him out in the men's room. There were some lines that had to be drawn in their partnership and that was one.

Heading along the familiar path, Amanda greeted Carmen with a smile and asked “He ready for us?”

“Lunchbreak.” Carmen told her cheerfully, holding out a mug she had been filling. “He's been extra cranky since he got in late though so give this first and he might not bite your head off.”

How Carmen had the patience to work with Rafael Barba, Amanda wasn't sure sometimes but if the caffeine addict was needing extra coffee then she was glad of the forewarning.

Pushing the door open, she found Barba not at his desk but rather he was sat at the table on the other side of his office with his back to the door allowing her to see over his shoulder. Along with his lunch of some sort of spicy rice dish, he had an iPad out on the table and was browsing through what looked like a selection of beds.

That had to be a freaky coincidence? Surely?

Then again, Barba was older than Sonny so that fit and he was friends with Olivia but, still, Carisi and Barba?

Well, there was no denying that Carisi looked up to Barba and wanted to impress him but that was just a admiration thing, wasn't it? Teacher and student ish. Sorta.

But then he'd come in late to work just like Sonny.

Oh, OH, but if Barba WAS the secret boyfriend then that meant it was his handcuffs that had caused the trouble. She wasn't sure if she wanted to live in a world where she knew that the ADA in front of her owned handcuffs.

“Carmen,” Said ADA sounded as grumpy as warned so when he turned to see her, Amanda just held out the coffee. To his credit Barba managed to look relieved and actually thank her when he accepted it.

Amanda, meanwhile, had been further distracted by the bump on Barba's forehead. He'd disguised it pretty well with make up and concealer but Amanda had grown up seeing her mother hide bruises with make up and regularly saw it in her line of work. Barba had clearly hit his head on something, like perhaps the headboard of a bed as it collapsed?

No way. No fucking way.

Carisi and Barba.

She was openly staring but for the moment it hadn't been noticed since Barba was all but inhaling coffee. Well, if he had spent all night in the ER with Sonny then no wonder he was tired.

The evidence all pointed to it but she had been so sure before about Sonny's injuries and so very wrong. How could she check without embarrassing or stressing Sonny out any further?

She had his phone.

She pulled Carisi's phone out of her pocket, pleased to see it didn't have a passcode on as it usually did. This allowed her to easily scroll through his contacts easily. Barba was listed but plenty of people had work and personal phones so she went to recent contacts, found the heart emoji and hit call.

Either she was about to call a stranger or...

A phone started ringing.

It was true. Barba and Carisi were dating. Barba and Carisi had spent the night in the hospital because they'd broken a bed whilst fucking. Barba and Carisi were boyfriends.

Pulling the phone from his pocket, Barba looked at the screen and then answered immediately. Apparently he hadn't forgotten that Amanda was in the room because although he didn't look at her once, he answered with a very neutral sounding “Yes?”

Rollins glanced at the door to make sure it was closed (though, really, if anyone knew everything about Barba then surely that would be Carmen?) before answering, she held phone to her ear despite being directly behind Barba. “Hello, Mr 'Best-Sex-Carisi's-Ever-Had.”

If nothing else, it gave her a moment of Barba choking on his coffee and whipping around to her looking wide eyed. It was quite satisfying to see the usually unflappable lawyer taken by surprise.

“What....how...” He managed to splutter between coughs.

She did a small wave as she hung up and invited herself to sit at the table with him. “He kind of had to tell me some stuff but I figured out it was you on my own, just needed to confirm it.”

“Perhaps you should have been a detective,” Barba snarked, apparently over the shock and now dabbing at the coffee drops that had splashed onto his pale blue patterned shirt. “And why, pray tell, is it any of your business?”

“You're in a real bitchy mood for someone who just got described as the best sex ever by their boyfriend.” Amanda pointed out, not taking Barba's snottiness personally since she never did.

For the first time Barba looked at her. She'd seen him this pissed before but never at her, not like this.

“What I know is Sonny did not and does not want to come out at work. He was terrified this morning that somehow people would find out, he's experienced it before in other precincts and knows what it feels like to not trust that the unis or other detectives have his back. It wasn't personal to you, it was his issue that we were working through so that means you forced him out and just decided to force me out too for what? Your own amusement? Your satisfaction? I don't have time for your selfishness when the man I l-” Barba cut himself off and took a breath. “I know you didn't mean harm but outing isn't a game.”

Amanda was silent for a long moment. Her first impulse had been to argue, to defend herself but Barba was clearly so protective of Sonny that it was touching. The slip of the tongue he had nearly made, Barba was in love with Carisi and he just didn't want to see him hurt. How could she argue against that when it was what she wanted Sonny to have in a lover?

“I really didn't mean to out him, I would never deliberately hurt-”

“I know that Amanda,” Barba's voice and expression were softening though she could tell all would not be forgiven quickly. “Sonny loves Jessie and he adores you too so he won't say if he's hurting to you but think of it this way. Back in Atlanta, what would your old squad have done to a gay cop? A gay detective? New York is meant to be more enlightened but it's not.”

She didn't need to imagine, there had been a few cops over the years rumoured to be gay or lesbian. They were never treated seriously, they were the butt of most jokes and always overlooked for promotions. And that was the _better_ treated ones.

“Got it.” Message was received loud and clear. “And I won't even acknowledge that I know about it again if you want but, gotta say, I'm glad he has someone like you in his corner.” Her partner was a special guy, he wasn't all about machismo like Amaro and he wasn't hardened by the years like Fin, and Rollins had seen Barba go to bat for so many over the years. Now he had Sonny's back and that could only be a good thing. Hell, maybe he could see an improvement to his moods with Sonny in his life.

Barba sipped his coffee, smiling just a little and Amanda had a feeling that he didn't know what to say so she reached for the files stacked on the table.

“So, the Wollny/Everett case. Where do you want to start?

 

*-*-*-*

 

One of the changes since Rollins had become a new mom was that she now left on the dot when their shift was done, leaving Sonny alone with Barba in the privacy of his office.  
  
The moment they were alone, they both dropped the professional act and Sonny's forehead nestled into Rafael's shoulder.

"What a day." Sonny groaned. He closed his eyes contently, though, as loving fingers began to stroke his hair.  
  
"How's the pain?"

"Better than before." Before being when it had been grossly swollen and the pain had had him puking in the waiting room of the ER. The past 24 hours had not held a lot of dignity for him.  
  
Sonny did have the 'good' painkillers prescribed to him for a few days but had so far opted to stick to tylenol during his shift. Solving crimes was hard work without being completely spacecakes after all.  
  
Sonny's eyes flicked downwards as he felt Rafi unbutton the cuff on his 'good' wrist. Good was a relative term though since it had bruising all around but at least wasn't broken. Two broken wrists would have been hell. Thank the Lord for small mercies.  
  
He smiled as Rafael brought the wrist up and started to kiss softly.  
  
For a man who claimed to not have a romantic bone in his body, his Rafael could be beyond sweet to him.  
  
As Rafael showered him in soft, tender kisses, Sonny told him

 

"Sorry for Amanda, I was as vague as I could be. Wanted to check that you were ok with her knowing about us first but I guess I'm a crap liar. Or maybe I just want to talk about my amazing boyfriend too much."  
  
Rafael stopped with the kisses but was gently massaging the injured wrist as he asked "Amazing boyfriend? Who's he then? Not sure I like the sound of that, I don't like competition."  
  
Sonny rolled his eyes, gently butting Rafi with his head. His lover was not always the best at receiving compliments though Sonny could never understand why.  
  
"Oh hush you. Being out to Liv and Amanda feels weird but the nice kind of weird. I guess I could get used to it." They didn't need to shout and scream it from the rooftops or anything but not being a total secret was nice.

  
They sat in a comfortable silence for a long while, Rafael alternating between massaging and kissing and Sonny simply enjoying the moment. They were both exhausted and, with their working day done, the tiredness from being awake for over 24 hours was descending on them both.

 

Just when Sonny was about to suggest they head to his place (since he had a fully functioning bed), Barba said instead "So, I hear that sex with me is the best you've ever had, hmm?"  
  
And, of course, Rollins had had to repeat that tidbit.  
  
"Like I don't make that pretty damn clear every time." He murmured, cheeks feeling a little warm and probably turning pink.

Sonny blamed the Catholic upbringing that always had him blushing and squirming around sex talk but if that excuse was true, why wasn't it the same for Rafi?  
He hated it, how embarrassed he got. It made him feel like a kid when he got tongue tied about the most basic things. Thankfully, Rafael was a lot more patient with him than he was with himself.  
  
"Well, I suppose but then, you might be just reassuring the old man you're not completely bored."  
  
Sonny butted Rafael again for that self-depreciating comment. "No old men here, just the sexiest man I've ever laid eyes on."

He lifted his head from Rafael's shoulder, guiding his lover to look at him with the fingers from his encased hand and kissed his lips softly. "And if I wasn't sure that I'm gonna pass out the second we get to mine, I'd say we should spend the night testing the strength of my bed to prove it."  
  
"I love it when you get all romantic." Rafael teased, his green eyes playful despite his obvious exhaustion. "Come on then, home."  
  
That slip of the tongue, Barba calling Sonny's place 'home', had the younger man grinning even more.  
  
Clearing away the files didn't take long between them, neither did gathering their belongings. Luckily, whilst he'd left one coat in the squad car, Sonny had a spare in Barba's office (his boyfriend was always prepared like that). Sstanding whilst Rafael helped him into it and buttoned it up was a lot less excruciating an ordeal than it had been when Rollins had done it. Probably because Raf didn't make him feel like a small child.  
  
The face to face closeness, however, gave Sonny a perfect view of that bump.

"How's your head feeling?" He asked softly, knowing Rafi hated him worrying but as he'd argued in the hospital, a hard knock to the head could be more potentially dangerous than his sore wrists.  
  
There had been a scan done but they had been separated to be scanned and treated individually and while Sonny didn't think that Rafael would lie to him, lawyers could be tricky people when it came to concealing the truth without lying. They were like fae folk in that regard.  
  
"All good, honestly. Dominick, I'm more than fine. I wouldn't have even bothered with the make up if I hadn't had court appearances this morning." The expression was utterly sincere and the rare use of Sonny's given name served to placate and reassure him.  
  
After a nod and a soft kiss, Sonny asked "And how'd court go?"  
  
He grinned as they left, utterly adoring of Rafi who held the office door for him like a gentleman and grabbed his ass as he passed too. That was his Rafi through and through.  
  
"Just standard pre-trials for the Milligan and the Carlton cases. Hearings and motions on what evidence and witnesses are in or out, in or out."  
  
"And shake it all about?" Sonny caught Rafael's hand in his good one. It was a sign of exactly how tired his lover was that Rafael actually laughed for a second.

"You ridiculous dork of a man." He said the words like an 'I love you' and it was close enough for Sonny.  
  
"Me? I'm not the one who talks in his sleep all the time." Sonny squeezed Rafael's hand as his lover pressed the call button for the elevator, luckily the doors opened immediately and they stepped inside.  
  
"I do not."  
  
"You do, it's so frickin' cute too. I mean, unless you're trying to say that you were fully awake when you insisted I should 'indite the flamingo for manslaughter' the other night?"  
  
Rafael looked like he might argue for a moment but, ultimately, exhaustion won over as he simply groaned loudly and pressed his face into Carisi's chest.

For his part, Sonny just smiled down at him feeling just as tired as he carefully wrapped his injured arms around Barba and held him close.  
  
He kissed his lover's head and murmured "I know Rafi, I know."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please kudos/comment if you enjoyed. 
> 
> Btw I'm trying to get back into writing so feel free to trade Barisi headcanons or suggest prompts to me at blu-eyed-demon or blu-eyed-fic on tumblr! 
> 
> Also, the sleep talking thing? Yea, that's a thing I said. 
> 
> And the 'never say it's a quiet shift' rule is one I heard from a doctor about working in the ER but I figured it applies well to all emergency service jobs


End file.
